NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — Some parents from a North Fort Myers elementary school say they are fed up with what they call a dangerous road.
They say drivers on Littleton Road are going against oncoming traffic to get around the parent pick-up and drop off line, nearly causing head-on crashes.
Parents start to line up around 7:30 a.m. to drop off their children at Dr. Carrie D. Robinson Littleton Elementary School. When they look out the window, many parents see drivers jumping out the line.
"I just see people driving recklessly up and down this road," said a mother of three, who did not want to be identified.
To paint a better picture of the area, down the road there's a roundabout. That's where the parents recently got into an accident as another driver tried to merge.
"He hit the gas and rammed into my car and sent me sideways," the parent said.
Closer to the school, there's one lane on each side with a turn lane in the middle that buses use.
As cars line up to drop off kids, you can clearly see drivers going in the wrong direction.
Parents say leaving the school is another worry as they look for drivers going over the double yellow line.
As Fox 4 was at the elementary school in the morning, people stopped Fox 4's Kaitlin Knapp, telling her the situation is worse in the afternoon.
"It's a disaster waiting to happen," said Danny Ballard, who lives next to the school. "Someone's going to get killed here."
It's a fear for Ballard when he sees cars, dump trucks and utility trucks driving in the opposite direction.
"You have dump trucks and everything crossing double yellow lines to go around it and imposing their will into oncoming traffic," Ballard said.
At one point, we saw a truck driving on the sidewalk and in the grass to get around the line.
It's a traffic hazard parents say they want the county to fix.
"Honestly, I don’t know what the best solution would be, but I know somebody needs to get out here and evaluate the situation," the mother said.
Lee County is in charge of the stretch of road. A spokesperson said crews will start work next year on a new $20 million project.
It will widen the lanes on Littleton in both directions, and add a lane to accommodate people turning left or right. The plan also includes a short lane for parent pick-up and drop off.
"Is that going to fix all of the problems? I don’t think so because you’re still going to have the same amount of lanes here," Ballard said.
Though the Lee County School District is not in charge of the road, a spokesperson said it's been in communication for years with county leaders and agencies to help improve the traffic situation.
When Fox 4 asked the Lee County Sheriff's Office about the road, the department said it would have deputies in the area on Monday during peak times.
When the public has traffic concerns, specific locations and specific time frames are incredibly helpful in focusing efforts to address the observed issues.
With no immediate solution as of now, the mother of three says if nothing changes, she may switch schools to keep her children safe.
"I’m getting to the point where I don’t want to drive down this road anymore because it’s so dangerous," the mother said. "We want to make sure that everybody could make it to work and school safely."
Lee County commissioners are expected to approve the construction contract for the Littleton Road widening project on October 17.
